Hispanics Boost Hollywood Blockbusters, and the 10 Best Movies for Latinos This Summer

Hispanics enjoy going to the movies. Hispanics go to the movies quite often, says industry data, an average of six times a year, which is twice as much as average movie fans, according to a report.

Hollywood and theater companies are becoming more focused on Hispanic audiences as the population in the United States grows.

"Hollywood began catering to Hispanic audiences after a marketing report was released in 2011," wrote Yahoo.com. "It wasn't until 2013, however, that filmmakers begin to grasp what kind of difference this could make. Fast & Furious 6, the ninth highest-grossing film of 2013, owed a huge amount of its box office success to Hispanic audiences, as did 'Gravity'. Both movies were marketed directly to a Latino audience, highlighting Latina actress Michelle Rodriguez and Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón, respectively."

The favorite kinds of movies, according to the data, include horror movies, comedies and action films.

The 10 summer movies that had an opening weekend audience containing a large number of Hispanics included: Transformers: Age of Extinction, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 all had an opening weekend audience that was 22 percent Hispanic.

The Angelina Jolie movie Maleficent had an opening week audience of 25 percent Hispanics, and 22 Jump Street, Neighbors, The Fault in Our Stars, Edge of Tomorrow, and How to Train Your Dragon 2 all had an audience made up of 21 percent Hispanics.

"According to figures from the U.S. Census and a Nielsen report on movie audiences, Hispanics make up 15 percent of the population over the age of 12, and 19 percent of tickets sold for teens and older," wrote TheWrap.com.

"The group, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as people of "Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race," is making its presence felt at the summer box office.

The group has accounted for more than 20 percent of the audience for hits as disparate as Maleficent and Godzilla, according to data compiled by Nielsen and Univision," according to TheWrap.com

In addition to the mainstream movies that are drawing latino audiences, there's also a bump for Spanish-language movies.

"Last year's Mexican comedy Instructions Not Included was one of the most successful independent movies of 2013, opening to higher box-office numbers than any other Spanish language film in U.S. history, " said the report in Yahoo.com.